The Post‘s Seung Min Kim and Josh Dawsey quoted one White House ally who said McConnell “doesn’t like the bill.”

“He doesn’t like the bill,” Republican donor Doug Deason, a key White House ally, said of the measure. Referring to the former Alabama senator and ex-attorney general, Deason added: “He’s a Jeff Sessions-style, lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key kind of guy.”

As the Post also noted, the McConnell position could lead to a conflict with outgoing Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the lead Republican advocate for the FIRST STEP Act.

An earlier version of the bill passed the House in May 2018 by an overwhelming 360-59 vote. Two hundred and twenty-six Republicans and 134 Democrats supported the measure, with only two Republicans and 57 Democrats opposed. That same bill had 10 Republican cosponsors and nine Democratic cosponsors.

Grassley has been quiet on the issue in the last few days, in part because of the state funeral services for the late President George H.W. Bush. But on Tuesday, he tweeted that McConnell should allow a vote.

Ldr McConnell said he would need to have 60+ votes to bring criminal justice reform up & wanted to show large amount of Republican support. We have delivered. More than 1/2 of the Republican caucus supports the First Step Act LET’S VOTE!